Enjoying The Times We Share Together
by The Princesses of Tennis
Summary: Two girls from America arrive to Seishun Academy as daughters of four of Ryuzaki's students from long ago. What kind of hell will they arise? NON YOAI! Regulars X OCs, Ryoma X Sakuno Read to find out more! YAY!
1. New Arrivals

Hiya! This is Mai/ Maileiko here! Shia is not here, but the both of us typed this story! We hope you alls enjoys and don't gets scareds off! On wit da story!

"Blah"- talking

_"Blah"_- talking English

_'Blah'_- thinking

* * *

Enjoying the Times We Share Together

Chapter 1- New Arrivals

"Maileiko! Help me with this freakin' thing!" A blonde girl shouted to her friend. A girl about her same height with the same general hair color as her glanced over at her and then looked away. "Come on Maileiko! It's heavy!" She ran alongside the large suitcase as she tried to pull it off the luggage belt. Eventually she got a good grip on it and yanked it off, stumbling backwards into someone. She whirled around to face a tall boy with thin rimmed glasses. "I-I'm sorry!"

"It's alright," he said, but he wasn't smiling, "You should be more careful."

"Y-yeah..." She blushed slightly.

"Shia! Come on, I can see our ride!" Maileiko hollered over to her and Shia turned towards her voice.

"Alright then!" She called back and then turned back to the boy. "Sorry again," she said, but he was already gone. She sighed as she headed over to Maileiko and the older woman next to her.

"What took ya?" Maileiko asked as they headed out for the car.

"Nothing," she said, but glanced back at the doors with hopes of catching another glimpse of the mysterious stranger.

Maileiko smiled over at Shia and then turned to the elderly woman again, "Thanks for picking us up, Ryuzaki."

"Yeah, thanks," Shia mumbled, still watching the doors as Ryuzaki put their bags into the trunk.

"It's no trouble. When both Maileiko's parents and your parents called me to set this up I couldn't refuse, especially knowing that I'd had all four as students and you two would be living alone!" She smiled.

"We'll be fine," Maileiko smiled, "We're responsible."

"Well, I am, I'm not so sure about you," Shia said, with a sideways glance at Maileiko as she got into the car. Maileiko hopped in after her, with a fist raised.

"You wanna fight!" She snapped and Shia stuck her tongue out at her. Ryuzaki sighed as she got into the driver's seat.

"Oh bring it on, Maileiko!" Shia shouted with her fists raised.

"Those two remind me of someone... But who? I just can't put my finger on it. It's on the tip of my tongue..." Ryuzaki put her hand up to her chin. _'Maybe I should just take them to their apartment.'_ She glanced back at the two girls, wrestling on the seat one minute and then laughing the next. _'Yes, I think that will be best...'_ She turned the corner and the two girls switched to looking out the windows on the way to their new home.

---------------

"Oh, he's so hot! It doesn't matter that we have to get up early in the morning! To see him in those shorts is good enough!" a girl squealed as she peered into the tennis courts.

"Which one?" The girl beside her asked with drool coming down her mouth as a look of absolute... Are you ready for this? Glee **(Maileiko: What a funny word...)** crossed over her face.

"All of them..." Another girl sighed with a look of amour.

"I dunno, I like Tezuka-senpei..." a younger girl put in. The others laughed.

"Shows what the seventh grade population knows!" one giggled, "I don't think he's ever even accepted any date offers! He's some kind of walking enigma!"

"Yeah, but it just makes you wanna try even harder, doesn't it?" another put in.

"Well, I'm not so sure..." Another stated uneasily. "I mean, what about Oishi-sama! Or Fuji-sama! Or Kikumaru-sama!" Her eyes widened in worry as she looked back at her fellow bimbos **(Shia: I love this word)**. What they saw next was least expected. Two girls came walking behind the Tennis Coach, Ryuzaki. They both held Tennis bags slung over their shoulders.

"Who are they?" One of the bimbos questioned bitterly. The other girls watched the two girls behind the coach in dismay.

"Hey, Maileiko," Shia whispered to her friend next to her as they walked behind Ryuzaki. "What do you think they're lookin' at?" She pointed to a group of girls looking in their general direction. The other girl shrugged with a smile, taking her hair and twisting it around her hand and tossing it over her shoulder.

"Who knows?" Her step had a little extra bounce to it as she walked alongside her dirty blonde haired friend. "Heh... Bouncy bunny boom booms..." She mumbled to herself.

"Okay, girls," Ryuzaki turned with a small smile. "The two of you will be starting practice today." Shia and Maileiko looked around the old lady to see boys on a tennis court hitting colored cones with the resembled colored balls.

"With them?" Shia questioned with a look of utter horror, but at the same time a little bit of happiness.

Ryuzaki laughed, "No, no. Not them. I'm taking you to the girls' courts. Heh, sorry, I didn't mean to get you confused." She smiled. Shia looked somewhat dismayed. Maileiko slapped her in the face as she saw this. Shia came back at her by poking her in the side.

"What! You want me to whup you like I did yesterday!" Shia challenged. Maileiko raised her fists in response.

"Oh, you know I won that fight!" Maileiko snapped.

"Hey, hey, hey," Ryuzaki said, separating the two, "No fighting on school grounds! Besides, I was there to see that one, and Shia definitely won that one..."

"Ha!" Shia triumphed and Maileiko made a small, 'humph' sound. Ryuzaki sighed and continued to lead the way to the girls' tennis courts. The girls followed, not looking each other in the eye, but both were smiling, slightly.

Shia looked back at the boys' courts and smiled. 'So they're letting seventh graders practice today?' she thought as she watched a group of them practice their serves and volleys. 'Op, that one's out of control,' she watched a ball fly over the fence in their general direction and quickly pulled a racket out and moved to hit it as Maileiko sighed. Shia lobbed the ball back over the fence so that it would land right next to the feet of the seventh grader that hit it and had a stop to it to keep it from bouncing.

"Showoff," Maileiko muttered, folding her arms and rolled her eyes. She walked off with a smile, but Shia didn't get angry at the comment, she had enjoyed herself. Maileiko sighed again, "Come on Shia, I'm gonna beat ya on the court." Shia's smile remained on her face as they continued towards the girls' courts.

-----------

The seventh grader Shia had hit the ball to was stunned. The tip of his racket rested on the ground as he held the tennis ball in his hands. His friend stood there with him. "That was cool, Horio," his friend sighed and the boy nodded.

"That was like something I would have expected from Ryoma or one of the starters, but a girl?" Horio shook his head, "Hey, where's Katsuo anyway, Kachiro?"

"Hmm? Oh, he's on library duty today, he'll be late," Kachiro explained. Another boy, a seventh grader wearing a cap and a Starters jacket walked up. "Ryoma!"

"Hey, Tezuka told me to tell you two to get moving or else you'd get laps," Ryoma told them, "What's so interesting over here anyway?"

"Man, you missed it! Some girl hit this amazing shot!" Kachiro told him, "It was like a lob, but it landed right next to Horio's feet, and she hit it from the other side of the fence!"

"A lob with a slice rotation," Ryoma translated for his own benefit, then shrugged, "A lot of people can hit shots like that. I have to get back to my own practice." he said, but noticed that Tezuka, the team captain, was already calling it to an end. "Never mind."

"Hey! Hey!" another boy ran up.

"Katsuo!" Horio said as Katsuo skidded to a stop and tried to catch his breath.

"What's up with you?" Ryoma asked and Katsuo straitened up.

"There's... This... Amazing match..." Katsuo said between breaths, "At the girl's court!" He held his chest as he coughed.

Horio turned to Kachiro with a look of wonder, "Maybe it's that girl from before!"

"Let's go check it out!" Kachiro squealed as he picked up the last ball and put it in the basket. "Ryoma, you come too!"

"Fine..." Ryoma gave up.

"Hey, Ryoma! Where're ya goin'!" Momo shouted in confusion. Ryoma turned to him with a blank expression and turned back to head out of the courts. Momo raised an eyebrow.

"What was that about?" Eiji asked, coming up next to Momo.

"I dunno..." Momo said, "He was headed in the direction of the girls' courts."

"Hmm..." Fuji said, joining the procession, "Sounds interesting."

"What does?" assistant captain Oishi asked.

"I say we follow him," Sadaharu put in from the back of the group. The others nodded and Taka sighed.

"I guess I'll come to, we have some time left before class," Taka sighed and headed after the group. Oishi stopped and turned around. As he had expected, Tezuka was the only one not following. He thought he'd try anyway.

"Kunimitsu, don't you want to see?" he asked and Kunimitsu sighed, but didn't say a word about it. They started walking again and Oishi noticed with a bit of satisfaction that he could see the captain following out of the corner of his eye.

------------

"Maileiko!" Shia yelled as she moved to volley a ball, _"I'm a little teacup!"_ Maileiko smiled and got down low to retrieve the ball.

_"Short and stout!"_ Maileiko sang as Shia smiled.

_"Here is my handle,"_ she said, putting a fist on her hip and reaching out with the other, _"Here is my spout."_ She hit the ball back towards Maileiko.

_"When you tip me over, you hear me shout,"_ Maileiko said, leaning over and hitting a ball.

_"But that's the fun of tipping me!"_ Both girls started laughing as they continued to volley.

"What are they saying?" Horio asked as he watched from the other side of the fence. Kachiro and Katsuo both pondered over it, while Ryoma stood there with a confused look on his face.

"They're singing... 'I'm a little teapot'?" He murmured to himself. "That's just weird."

"Maileiko, I'm bored with this," Shia said, catching the ball as it came back to her, "Enough warming up, okay? Play for real!" she tossed the ball back over the net for Maileiko. "Your serve."

"Let's raise the stakes!" Maileiko shouted from her side of the net. "Loser does the winner's homework for a WEEK!"

"Bring it on!" Shia said, getting into a ready position. Maileiko smirked as she bobbed on the tip of her feet, her heel not touching the ground.

"And Shia, it's 'Tip me over and hear me shout'! Not 'But that's the fun of tipping me'!" Maileiko flipped her hair over her shoulder with a turn of her head. Shia glared at her in annoyance as she corrected her. Shia bounced the ball a few times, caught it, and threw it in the air. "Que told me so! I called her before the match!" She smiled happily.

"You idiot! You were singing along with me!" The ball dropped to the ground as the girls got into a frivolous argument. They went up to the net, Shia sent Maileiko a cold glare as Maileiko sent a sadistic smile her way.

"Yeah, so?" The smiling girl leaned on her racket.

"Are you startin' somethin'!" Shia inquired grabbing the collar of Maileiko's green and blue T-shirt. Maileiko returned the gesture as she grabbed the collar of Shia's red and black T-shirt.

"Oh, bring it, Shia!"

From where she stood, Ryuzaki placed her hand to her forehead and shook it in displeasure. She looked up to see Shia start to climb over the net and the Starters watching in moderate amusement at the two. "Shia! Get off the net! If you two want to fight, go someplace else!" She shouted in dismay.

The two girls looked over to the old tennis coach with a glare. "Well... You heard her..."

"Yep..."

"Well, off school property we go!" Shia and Maileiko sang in unison, "Bye, Ryuzaki!" The two girls waved as they began their way out of the court. A displeased tennis coach grabbed the collars of the two girls.

"HOLD IT!" Ryuzaki shouted. She leaned down to the ears of the two girls, "besides," she pointed to the group of boys not too far away, "They're watching and waiting for your match." She smirked as she whispered into the girls' ears. They saw the boys staring at them and blushed lightly.

"Oh yeah... We were gonna have a match... Aheh heh heh heh..." Shia smiled warily.

"That's right... Eheh heh heh..." Maileiko sweatdropped. Ryuzaki's blood began to boil.

"YOU MEAN YOU FORGOT!" The tennis coach screamed.

"Heh... Maybe..." Shia commented.

"We'll just be going over..." Maileiko began as she slowly pointed over to the tennis courts, "There..." They made a dash for the green courts beyond the fence.

"Now, let's do this!" Shia yelled in satisfaction. Maileiko smiled as she stepped onto her side. Shia served the ball with amazing speed. Sadly (For Shia that is) Maileiko got to the ball with plenty of time to spare, and hit it to the opposite side of the court. Shia hit the ball over and as before, Maileiko hit it back, this time with more rotation and speed.

The match went on, coming to a tie. Both girls fought to get match point, 'I mustn't lose to her!' They both thought. Unfortunately for Shia, someone caught her eye right when the ball was about to be hit by Maileiko.

"Hey!" She pointed to the person who caught her attention. "It's you! From before!" The ball went flying past her face as it landed inside the court.

"Yay! I won!" Maileiko jumped up and down with a smile of pure delight. "Ha ha! You lost!" To the Starters, they realized that the girl had sounded oddly familiar.

Shia completely ignored her friend as she ran up to the fence to the person she spotted. "It IS you!" She pointed to the boy in front of her. "Vampire man!" At that, everyone cracked up laughing.

"Tezuka, do you know this girl?" Oishi questioned.

"Did you just call me... 'Vampire Man'?" Tezuka asked coldly, completely ignoring Oishi's question.

"Heck yeah! One minute you're there, and the next, you're gone! Magic!"

"Shia, do you know this guy?" Maileiko inquired as she walked up to her screaming friend.

"Yeah! He's Vampire man!" Shia stated happily as she stuck out a finger at the secretive captain, "I met him at the airport!"

"Actually, you ran into me," Tezuka said in his flat tone. Shia shrugged in an elaborate way.

"Same thing!" She said, "Don't act so stingy about it, Vampire man."

"What's up with the... 'Vampire Man'... Stuff? Nyah?" Eiji asked and Tezuka turned to him with a cold 'don't encourage her' glare. Maileiko giggled.

"She's just psychotic!" She grinned, hitting Shia with her elbow.

"Hey, watch it! I am not!" Shia snapped and both girls raised their fists again like they were going to get into another fight.

"Some people just can't control their tempers," Kaido scowled.

"Tell me about it," Momo yawned, stretching his arms, "Those two get angry just being around each other, huh?"

"Kinda like some other people we know..." Ryoma said, not looking over at his two teammates.

"Really? Who?" Momo asked and Kaoru fumed quietly.

"YOU!" They all shouted, with the exception of Kaoru, himself, Tezuka, and Fuji. The two girls turned and Shia jumped onto the fence, in an attempt to climb over.

"What is she? A gorilla?" Horio asked pointing to her.

"Hey! The Gorillaz are a great band! So back off!" The girls screamed.

"Did anyone mention the Gorillaz?" Taka inquired looking to everyone. Shia took her hands off of the fence to wave her arms.

"Oh! I did! I did!" She yelled, then let out a small yelp as she fell backwards against the fence, her feet still stuck in the diamonds of the fencing. "Ah! Help me! Maileikoooooo! I'm stuck! Again!"

Maileiko smiled as she turned, "See ya!" She waved as she walked away.

"Yeah, we had better be getting to class too." Eiji stated as they all turned to leave.

"Hey! You all can't leave me here hanging! NO pun intended!" She began to cry crocodile tears.

"This happens often to you, doesn't it?" Came a stern voice belonging to none other than the stoic captain. Shia's tears stopped immediately as she tried to twist herself, with mixed results, so that she could see his face when she replied, but didn't get very far.

"I guess," Shia laughed, "I'll get stuck in some dumb position and Maileiko won't help get me out of it. Maileiko's a great friend, but she has tendencies to be sadistic." She smiled, "I guess I'm not immune to moments like that either! But, hey, you know what they say right? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

"Is she in the friend or the enemy category?"

"Uh... Ya know, sometimes it's hard to tell..." Shia rubbed the back of her head. She sighed and got a serious expression on her face. "Look," She said, "Would you mind helping me down before we're both late for--" Shia was cut off as the bell rang and Tezuka looked at his watch.

"I lost track of time..." He mumbled to himself.

"Correction. Would you mind helping me down before we're both _later_ for class?" Shia asked and the stone-faced captain moved around the corner and onto the court.

"What do you want me to do?" He asked and Shia grinned.

"What do I want you to do? A smile would be nice," Shia said and Tezuka scowled.

"I meant what do you want me to do to help get you down?" He said rather testily.

"Oh, well, I think if you just helped me push my shoulders back up I could get my feet out. Normally I could get up there myself, but my knees have locked," she explained, a little embarrassed about it. Tezuka moved underneath her and began to push on her shoulders. When Shia got up high enough, she held onto the fencing with one hand and used the other to pry her feet out of the fence. One down, one to go. She switched which hand was holding onto the fence so that they wouldn't get tired and she struggled to pull her other foot out. "There!" She said as she got the other foot out, but lost her grip and fell backwards. Tezuka caught her and then tipped her onto her feet. She blushed slightly as she muttered her thanks.

"It's fine," Tezuka told her and then headed off for his class. Shia's blush heightened as she brushed herself off and headed for her own classes.

* * *

**Authors' Note:** Hi ya'll! This is Maileiko/ Mai! Shia isn't here right now; I'm at home, finishing this thing up, going through, and correcting all the spelling errors and all that jazz. I like jazz music! Oh, heh... Got off topic there, huh? And yeah... You don't see much of me in this one... All 'bout the romances between the stoic captain of Seishun and the peasant girl that should have no chance, Shia. HA HA HA HA HA! Well, I hope you all review! Thanks! See ya next time! 


	2. Sadism

Hey everyone! Shia here! Haha! Sorry it took so long to post this, we had it written so long ago, but never got around to posting it! Sorry! Sorry! Anyway, Thanks for the support! Read on!

Disclaimer- we do not own Prince of Tennis

---------------

"It's fine," Tezuka told her and then headed off for his class. Shia's blush heightened as she brushed herself off and headed for her own classes.

They walked side by side for a while without talking. Shia was still blushing slightly, but tried to cover it with a normal happy mask. (No, not a real mask, just figure of speech people.) Tezuka didn't make an attempt at conversation; actually he preferred the silence to the chatter he had expected from the girl next to him. Instead of chattering away, she started humming 'The Black Knight' by Ian Edlund.

She stopped, "I wonder where Maileiko went..." She looked around the hall they were in, "By the way, what class are you going to?"

"Class one." He spoke in a monotone. Shia's blue eyes widened with excitement.

"REALLY! ME TOO!" She sang out happily.

'I'm going to die, aren't I?' Tezuka thought as he continued to walk to the class they were destined to arrive at together. (Shia: Maileiko! Shut up! (If you hadn't guessed, Maileiko wrote that last part) He opened the door to the classroom with a blank look. "Sorry for being late, Sensei." All the girls in the class sighed with a smile as Tezuka entered.

"And who is behind you, the Tezuka?" The teacher asked as Shia followed him in, getting odd glares from the girls who had smiled at Tezuka just moments before.

"Oh!" She said, ignoring the glares and moving around Tezuka, "I'm Shia Nosake, I'm the new transfer student. I'm from America." She added in English, not that she doubted that the teacher didn't already know. Now the girl's glares heightened, probably because a foreign girl was even more of a threat that a normal girl that came in late right after Tezuka. As if reading their minds, Shia continued, "I'm sorry I'm late, and it's also my fault that Tezuka-san is late. There was an... Incident... that he helped me out of." The entire class sweat dropped. Tezuka shook his head, 'Why'd she have to mention it?' "Yeah, and my best friend, Maileiko, is here too! But she left me there in my state of peril." Shia sniffed, putting her hand up to her nose.

The teacher's eye began to twitch, thinking of what kind of friend this 'Maileiko'  
must be. "What kind of friend just leaves their best friend in such an incident?" He questioned, his mouth agape.

The door sung open, and there stood a blonde smiling girl. "Hello, Sensei. Sorry to disrupt your class." The girl's smile broadened. "Ryuzaki-sensei asked me to deliver these papers to your class." The girl stepped into the class, her grin never faltering. Shia glared at the girl as she entered.

"You..." Shia snarled loud enough for the whole class to hear. The girl stared at her questioningly.

"Hello, Shia. So you're in class one?"

"You know her?" The teacher inquired.

"Maileiko... My friend that left me hanging!" Shia shouted. The teacher looked to the cheerful girl in astonishment. The class stared with wide eyes.

"I'm terribly sorry for disturbing your class." Maileiko continued past Shia to the teacher. "Here are the requirement papers." She placed the papers on his desk, delicately.  
She gave the teacher one last smile before walking back towards Shia, "Watch yourself,  
Shia... You never know what will come your way if you keep saying such obscene things..." Maileiko spoke devilishly. With that, she left the class in incredulity.

"Not like anyone will believe me now!" Shia screamed after before Maileiko shut the door.

Maileiko walked down the hallway, back to her classroom. 'Satisfaction...' She thought with an amoral grin. She came upon the door leading into her class and opened it smoothly and quietly. "Ryuzaki-sensei, I delivered those papers to class one like you requested." She walked back to her seat, her hands folded in front of her.

"What? I didn't ask you to deliver any papers to class one. You asked to use the restroom." Ryuzaki scowled.

"Oh, yes. I meant I'm back from the restroom. I had accidentally bumped into someone going to deliver papers to class one." (Shia: Incredious look.) Maileiko rubbed the back of her head nervously. She took her seat between the two Tennis starters.

"He told me. And so I guess I got our stories mixed up." She smiled. Ryuzaki must have believed her, because she let it drop from there. Maileiko did have good acting skills; her teachers from her old school had told her so. That's probably why everyone believed her so often, when she wants them to anyways. And that's probably the reason why no one really knows what she's really like. (Shia: What about me!) (Maileiko: For one, no one cares about you. And second, you died) (Shia: Again! Dang, I'm running low on lives!) (Maileiko: No comment...) (Shia! Blank stare) **(Shia's death count: 1) **Class passed quickly and soon Maileiko was standing outside in the warm afternoon sun. She watched casually for Shia, and then shrugged at the other girl's lateness. She was probably lost. Oh well. (Shia! 'Oh well!)

"Maileiko!" a voice called from behind her and she turned to see a smiling face and a waving hand, "That's right, isn't it?" Fuji grinned in an oddly sadistic way as he greeted the younger girl.

"Yes," She said, "And you're Fuji, right?" The smiled widened slightly as he nodded. He glanced around.

"You're waiting for Shia I presume?" he asked. Maileiko smiled, but didn't nod or shake her head.

"It started out that way," she said, "But now the fool's probably lost somewhere and I don't want to look for her. I have practice today."

"Oh? You're joining the tennis club right? Good luck with your tryout for the girls' team," Fuji said and a sly smile spread across Maileiko's face.

"I already tried out, so did Shia, this morning," she informed the older boy, who looked mildly surprised.

"That was a tryout?" He said, but his surprise quickly faded away as it was replaced by one of his odd smiles, "Interesting..."

---------------------

Shia walked along the large hallway while humming the chorus to 'Mr. Wonderful'. Yeah, she was lost, but she didn't really mind so much. Getting lost was part of getting to know the school. She couldn't really say that it had been a bad day either.  
Sure, her friend had left her for dead when she got stuck in the fence and then had made her seem like a fool in front of her new class, but that wasn't too awful. P.E. had been great, they had run a timed lap, something that Shia enjoyed a lot. Running was one of her favorite things to do and running while someone timed her just made her run all the better, competition being something she relished. Her time hadn't been half bad either,  
though she had done better.

She stopped humming to look around. Yep, she was still lost, no changes here.  
She shrugged and kept walking, her eyes closed as she went back to humming, she was on the third verse now. She stopped suddenly and her eyes snapped open. Something wasn't right.

"Shia-saaaaaaaaaannn!" She heard a voice yell from behind her. Her eyebrow twitched, she knew the voice, but not it's owner. It must have been someone from one of her classes. She glanced back. It was a girl from P.E. and some other people behind her. She stared for a moment. They were wearing track uniforms. She ran. "Come on Shia-san!" the girl cried as she and her teammates ran after her. "We need another long distance runner! We need you!" Shia didn't stop, running was the only option right then.  
It was a good thing she enjoyed it.

------------------

Maileiko couldn't help but smile as she continued to talk to the sadistic genius.  
They talked about tennis and the math assignment Ryuzaki had given them. Fuji commented that he was impressed that both Maileiko and Shia were taking classes all higher grades than they were actually in. (They're eighth graders people.) Maileiko, in turn, told him about all of the things she had heard about him and that she was excited at the idea of sometime seeing it for herself. She also told him about Shia and Tezuka being in the same class, both finding it slightly comical and feeling a little sorry for the stoic captain, who had to deal with that whirlwind that they called Shia. Speaking of Shia, Maileiko noticed, there was a large stir of dust as someone resembling her raced around the corner, followed by a bigger cloud that must have been created by a group of people.

"Mai-lei-kooooo!" Shia's voice came pleadingly from the direction of the dirt devils. Maileiko sighed, it didn't just look like Shia, it was Shia. Unfortunately. She skidded to a stop in front of Maileiko, a scared look on her face. "They plan to eat me!"  
she yelled, waving a finger at the approaching group of students. Maileiko sighed again and stepped in front of Shia as the group came to a skidding halt.

"She's in the tennis club," She said, eyeing the uniforms. "She doesn't have the time to join the track team."

"We... Know..." a male student said between gulps of air, "We... Found out.  
Before we decided to ask... Her to join." The words flowed easier as he caught his breath.

"If you know she's busy, why ask?" Maileiko asked, her eyes almost cold as they seemed to look down on the boy.

"Well," A girl took over as the boy cowered under Maileiko's gaze, "track practice doesn't start until four thirty after school. She would have plenty of time to do both and she would be done before five thirty, they're not necessarily long practices you see."

"We would like her to participate," the first boy put in, "if she thinks she can handle two sports at once."

"Yes," the girl agreed, "We wouldn't want her to overexert herself."

"Overexert myself!" Shia said, sounding shocked, "Never!" She glanced over at Maileiko, her eyes asking if she was going to do the shot put this year. Maileiko, though she understood her friend's meaning, ignored her, deciding to answer the question at a more appropriate time. Shia smiled as she turned to the track team members, "I guess I'll do it!" she told them and they all smiled with a sigh of relief.

"Thank you! Practice starts tomorrow!" they said and bowed both to Shia and Maileiko and then to Fuji, whom many of them called senpai. Fuji smiled as Shia greeted him and the track members headed off. Maileiko sighed.

"Shia, I don't care if you do both tennis and track," she said, "But make sure to get both of our homework done this week okay?" Shia gave Maileiko an annoyed look,  
but didn't say anything. She had thought that Maileiko had forgotten about that.

"Hey Mai," Shia said, forgetting her annoyance for the time being, "Shouldn't we get to practice?" She glanced at Fuji, "Shouldn't you get to practice?"

"Hmm?" Fuji asked, pointing to himself, "No, we have the day off." He glanced up to the school building, "Actually I have a science project I have to work on today." He looked back to the girls with a reluctant smile, "I'll see you both tomorrow I guess."

"You can count on it!" Shia said with a thumbs-up (She's lost her mind, I don't know quite why…) (Shia: I HAD a mind?)

"Bye, Fuji," Maileiko said, and the senior waved before heading back into the school building. Maileiko turned to Shia, "Come on Shia, let's get changed and head to the courts." Shia nodded and followed her friend to the girls' tennis courts.

Practice passed quickly as Shia and Maileiko got to know their teammates. The captain of the girls' team was amazing. Even though most people only talked about the guys' team at Seishun, the starters on the girls' team were spectacular. Still, Maileiko and Shia were ready to take the spots from two of them to attain their status as regulars. In fact, they had already taken their first steps to doing so by playing practice matches against the girls. All in all, it was a great first practice and it didn't hurt that Ryuzaki was there to watch over the two girls with their short tempers. Thanks to her presence all fights were avoided. (Mostly.)

"Hey, Mai," Shia called as she came out of the locker room, rubbing a towel over her hair, "You comin'? I'm ready to go home." Maileiko hadn't bothered to change; she wasn't going to leave just yet.

"You go ahead," she said, "I have few things I want to work on." Shia shrugged,  
she knew better than to ask or try to stick around. If Maileiko said she had to do something it was best to just let her do it and stay out of the way.

"Shoot yourself," She said, "I'll save you some dinner."

"Uh, that's suit yourself Shia," Maileiko sweat dropped. Shia was cooking? Maybe she'd stick around the school longer than she originally planned... (Shia: Hey!) Shia shrugged again and walked away off campus, saying goodbye to a few of the other tennis players as she left.

Before long everyone was gone. Maileiko let out a breath and got ready to begin practicing her new shot. Now was a good time to work on it, without Shia around figuring out how to counter it. Maileiko smiled, 'If it can be countered at all...' She still had plenty of daylight. With that thought and smile she began.

------------------------

Shusuke Fuji was more than a little annoyed that the science project had taken so long to complete, but no trace of it could be seen on his smiling face. He glanced out the window from the second story classroom he was in at the light outside, which was quickly dimming. He shoved the last of his stuff into his bag and walked out of the class room and then out of the school building.

When he got outside a familiar sound greeted him: the sound of a tennis ball being hit with all of someone's might. He followed the sound to the girls' courts to see Maileiko hitting a ball over the net with such force that after it bounced on the court it had enough momentum to bounce off of the fencing and come back to her. (She stopped practicing her secret move some time ago. And, yes, I realize this is pretty much impossible.) He smiled in his normal way and watched for a minute or so before something happened that surprised him slightly. Just before Maileiko hit a ball, she moved her racket out of the way and moved behind the ball hitting it backwards, right at him. He didn't jump as it hit the fence in front of him, but rather he was intrigued by the motion. She had known he was there? "Interesting..." he mumbled, mostly out of habit. Maileiko turned around with a sadistic smile, which Fuji returned.

"I'm sorry Fuji," she said, "Did I surprise you?"

"A bit," Fuji laughed. She moved to start picking up a few balls she had lying around. "What're you doing still here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" She asked as he came around the fence and started helping her with the balls, "I was getting a little extra practice in."

"I suppose it was clear," Fuji smiled. Why did he even ask such an easily answered question? It was unlike him. They put the balls back into the basket and Fuji picked it up, "I'll put these away for you. I assume you want to change."

"Of course," she said, "Thank you." She headed off for the girls' locker room.

"Don't mention it," Fuji said and took the balls off to the club room. After he put them away he met Maileiko a ways away from the locker rooms, "How are you planning to get home?" he asked.

"Why, worried?" Maileiko asked with a mischievous smile.

"No, not really," Fuji admitted, "but I was taught that girls shouldn't walk alone after dark." Maileiko glanced at the sky to realize that it was pretty dark now. She somehow hadn't noticed. (How can you not notice something like that?) "I was planning to take the train," she said, then glanced at her watch, "But I guess I managed to miss it."

"Which way are you headed?" Fuji asked, "We could walk together, I missed the train as well."

"Uhh..." She looked around. She pointed to the direction she was facing: up.  
"That way." She looked back to Fuji. "Heh... Heh…"

"You don't know where you live do you?" Fuji questioned with his usual smile.

"Heh... Heh..." Maileiko sweat dropped. "I guess not…"

"How's that work? Do you remember what it looks like?" He smiled.

"Umm... It's an apartment! Yeah! That much I know!" She pumped, sounding proud of herself.

"Well, that narrows it down... There are only who knows how many apartment complexes here." Fuji's smile slowly departed, his aqua eyes open. Maileiko stared in awe.

"Umm... I'm sorry... I seem to be troubling you... I'll just find my way! I believe in myself! I'll just follow the North star!" Her head slowly began to lower in disappointment. "That won't work... Why do I even try to sound optimistic at a time like this?" She slightly whined out, not on purpose.

Fuji gave the small girl a sympathetic look, then sighed his face returning to the normal smile that usually never left his face except on the courts. "I guess we have no choice," He said in an it-can't-be-avoided tone, "Come on Maileiko, I'll help you find it."

"Thank you," she said, then turned away and started walking away from the school, determined not to let him see her blush.


	3. Of Psycofreaks and Macaroni Men

-1Hey everyone! It's Shia this time, happy to FINALLY post the third chapter. Sorry it took so long, and thank you to everyone who reads and reviews!

As always, we don't own Prince of Tennis

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hmm... Do you add the cheese before or after the noodles?" Shia asked herself, looking at the Easy-Mac box. (Shia: No, I'm not really that stupid, gosh!) (Maileiko: Yes you are.) She shrugged and dumped it all in. The water began to boil rapidly and then it exploded. (Totally possible, if you add the right chemical.)

Shia began to fall backwards, but realized that she was being held up by two powerful arms. "T-Tezuka-san...?" The figure shook his head. His cheesy head. Shia gasped as she realized that this person was made purely of cheese... "Could this be love?  
Could this be true?" She sang, her voice becoming more high-pitched every word.  
Shia ran into a cabinet, waking up from her delusional state. She looked around at the cheese-covered kitchen and sighed. 'If Maileiko came home to this I'd never hear the end of it...' (Shia: I actually had a dream about something like this once.)

Fuji continued to smile as the flustered girl in front of him turned every which way, looking for her apartment.

"I thought it was around here some-" She turned to an apartment complex. "There it-" An old fat man was seen through the window in boxers and grease stained white shirt. Fuji gave a strange look towards the overly happy girl in front of him.

Maileiko's look of happiness changed into a look of indescribable shock and disgust. "Ne- never mind…" she slowly turned away, grabbing Fuji by the arm. They continued their saunter along the road. The girl's face brightened up as she saw another apartment that she thought to be hers. "I found-" Inside the apartment a bald man was seen in a grass skirt and a coconut bra doing the hula. (Shia: Maileiko and I have actually seen this, walking to my house one day. VERY CREEPY!)

"May- maybe not…" She turned away, dragging a chuckling tennis tensai away from the grueling scene. Then she saw what would be her salvation in the form of smoke billowing from an open window. "That's it!" She yelled triumphantly, "I'm sure of it!" Fuji raised an eyebrow.

"How do you know?" he asked, almost as surprised as he was skeptic.

"Shia's cooking tonight!!" She exclaimed and began running the last two hundred yards to her house. Fuji's other eyebrow went up as he began to follow.

Shia sighed extravagantly as she threw the squeegee back into the soapy water in her bucket. This was going to take longer than she had even expected. She hated it when her predictions were wrong, no matter how slight they were. She was even more surprised and annoyed by the knock on the door. Maileiko would have simply come in and company was one of the last things she had expected.

She slapped herself mentally, realizing that it would be reasonable for Ryuzaki to check in on them, seeing it was the first night they actually had to cook and take care of themselves. She placed her soapy hands on the floor and pushed herself up.

Soap dripping from her hands, she walked to the door and reached for the doorknob. "Wha-?" Because the fact that her hands were all soapy, she could not turn the knob. "You- Have- Got- To- Be- KIDDING- ME!" She yelled, trying her hardest to open the door in between every shout. She sighed, wiped her hands with an 'I can't believe I did that' look, and then opened the door. "Hello Ryuza-" she stopped in mid-name, realizing that the name she had almost said did not belong to the person standing before her.

"Hello, Shia-san," The stoic captain said, glancing behind her into the cheese-filled kitchen. He looked back to her, "Ryuzaki-sensei wanted to come check up on you and Maileiko-san, but had some things to do and sent me instead. Now I know why… Need I ask?"

"Er, yeah, eheheheheh," Shia laughed nervously, "I had an… argument… with the macaroni…" Kunimitsu sighed and Shia gasped, "Oh, where are my manners? Well----" She glanced behind her, "I would invite you in, but there's no way you could get through that cheese and to the living room very easily…"

"It's alright," He said, then debated his options, "I'll help you clean it up." Shia blushed as he went past her and leaned over to pick up a new squeegee from the bucket.

"Thank you," she said, smiling at him as she picked up her own squeegee. (That is such a funny word! (And I got to type it so much!)) He simply nodded, muttering that it was no trouble. With that they set to work.

The smoke had stopped flowing from the window, but Maileiko already had a lock on the house as she ran up to it, Fuji directly behind her. "We really did find it!" she said as they stood in front of the door.

"Yes, we did," Fuji smiled, "I had my doubts for a moment back there." Maileiko smiled back, and opened the door.

"Uh…." Maileiko twitched at the sight before her: a woman was standing on a chair before a rope hanging from the ceiling. "HEY! YOU! WITH THE ROPE!" She called out, a deadpanned expression on her face.

"WHA?!" The chick turned quickly at the sudden outburst. Her face calmed, becoming depressed, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "Yes, dear?" She sniffed.

"Don't do it! It isn't worth it!" Fuji spoke up, his eyes now open. "Maileiko! Stop her!" Maileiko suddenly pulled out a slightly bent golden, medal bat and then scrapped it on the ground before hitting the woman over the head with it. (Yes, mocking "Paranoia Agent" here.)

"REVIVE!!!!" Fuji stared bewildered at the _strange_ girl. (Oh yeah, and "FLCL.")She dropped the bat as the woman dropped to the floor. Maileiko clapped her hands together, "Rise oh redeemed one!" She held out her hands above the woman and the lady arose. She smiled. (And now we are mocking Shia herself.(Who, coincidently, wrote this part.))

"I guess I don't have it so bad after all," she said, then clasped Maileiko's hand in hers, "Thank you, Miss, thank you so much."

"Sure thing!" Maileiko said, "But I kinda have to go next door, so I'll check in on you another time, alright?"

"Stop by anytime, Dear," the woman said and Maileiko waved before closing the door.

"Okay, here we go," she said, and opened up the last door on the right. Immediately they saw inside and both Fuji and Maileiko's jaws dropped.

Kunimitsu was holding Shia in his right arm, it looked like he had just dipped her and their faces were close. Shia's face was already red, but only got redder when she saw Maileiko and Fuji at the door. Kunimitsu saw them as well, but didn't blush as he straitened up and steadied her.

"Uh…" Maileiko started, at a sudden loss for words (Which didn't happen often.) "Err…" she tried again, "We... we can go if you guys were in the middle of something…?"

"No! No!" Shia yelled, waving her arms frantically in the air, "I had mopped the floor and I slipped, he just caught me so I wouldn't hit the floor!" Kunimitsu nodded, pushing his glasses slightly further up his nose.

"Why are you here in the first place?" Fuji asked him with a careless smile and Kunimitsu gave him a skeptical look.

"I could ask you the same thing," he said, "But I'm here because Ryuzaki asked me to check up on them and Shia-san tried to blow up the kitchen." That was when they saw the cheese, which still hadn't been completely removed from the cupboards yet.

"How…? Never mind," Fuji said, "I don't want to know. I'm sure I'll be much happier not knowing." He continued to smile and Shia laughed nervously.

"I told you, Shia's cooking," Maileiko whispered to Fuji, "Scary!"

"Scary! Scary!" Shia chimed in, not actually having heard what they were talking about. She decided to ignore everyone else and went back to cleaning the cupboards. When they were finally done, everyone having helped out, Kunimitsu and Fuji silently decided that they shouldn't leave until the two girls actually had something they could eat.

"What do you have?" Fuji asked, heading towards the pantry.

"Macaroni," Maileiko answered, but the pantry was empty when he opened it.

"Not any more!" Shia laughed nervously.

The other three gave a sweat drop. Was there any sanity?

"What should we do?" Fuji asked Kunimitsu in a hush-hush voice.

"We _should _leave them to fend for themselves," Kunimitsu sighed and Fuji nodded in sad agreement, "But," Kunimitsu continued, "We really can't do that." He watched for a moment as the two girls argued over nothing (Or maybe it was the loss of macaroni?)

"You know the only _good_ thing about all this?!" Maileiko snapped as Shia raised a fist in defiance.

"What?!"

"I'm not even that big of a fan of macaroni and cheese!" she exclaimed.

"Me neither!" Shia agreed in the same over exaggerated way, "I'd rather eat traditional Japanese and Chinese with some steak and hamburgers thrown in on some nights to mix it up! Something I can actually cook!"

"There's something you can actually cook?" Maileiko asked, looking bewildered. Shia's eyes dropped half distance. A vein twitched and then she exploded.

"I just don't do simple things!! My dad taught me all about making different meats and stuff!" She said, then thrust a fist into the air in an odd? gesture, "Besides, I LOVE MASHED POTATOES!!" (Shia: AMEN!)

"Y-yes!" Both girls said, flipping a thumbs-up. (Yes, stolen from Aya and Shigure of Fruits Basket, but we do this in real life.) The two girls turn to the boys with a fixing glare/stare. The two boys kept their original expressions, yet, on the inside, they shivered with worry. _What are they…? What **are** they?! _They thought in unison.

"Take us to your sushi…!" The two girls ran up to the boys with wide smiles. Fuji and Tezuka both gave bewildered looks as they stared down at the two sparkling-eyed girls.

Fuji regained his usual smile as he turned to look at Tezuka, "Sounds interesting..." Tezuka recuperated, his usual stoic expression returning to his face.

"Not what you're thinking, Fuji." Tezuka glared.

"Saa… What do you mean? I was only thinking about taking them to Taka-san's." Fuji smiled innocently.

"Sure you were, Fujiko!" Shia nudged him in the side with a wink. Maileiko blushed, her mouth agape.

"Sh-Shia!" Maileiko hit Shia over the head, the blush spreading. Fuji gave a confused smile to the two, as Tezuka stood to the side with a knowing look.

"Umm… Why Taka-san's anyway?" Maileiko questioned as Shia lay lifeless on the floor. Fuji smiled, as Tezuka just stared with his calm look.

"You'll see." Fuji said in a teasing kind of voice. Maileiko blinked as Shia shot her head up with a smile.

"Let's just get going!" She pushed herself up with her arms and headed out the door; the others trailing right behind.

"Ahhh…" Shia and Maileiko stared up at the giant banner above the shop; Kawamura's Sushi, it read.

"Now I get it!" Maileiko smiled, looking very proud of herself. Shia just stared up at the banner with a puzzled face.

"Who's this 'Kawamura' person? I thought we were going to Taka-san's place?" She said with a completely serious face. Tezuka looked over at her with a questioning face. She looked at him, an outraged look on her face, "Didn't your mother ever teach you that staring is impolite!?"

"Are you an old woman?"

"Didn't your mother teach you not to ask a woman's age?!"

"I never asked for your age," he said in monotone.

"How can we continue this relationship if you don't want to know anything about me?!" She cried, tears in her eyes, she turned to run inside, "I never want to see you again, Nimi-kun!"

Kunimitsu stood silently for a moment before finally uttering words into the cold night air. "What's…" he began, his eyes blank as they reflected the lights that surrounded him, still he felt he was left in darkness. "What's a… 'Nimi-kun'?"

"Wow… Is it just me, Fuji, or was it really dramatic for a second there…?" Maileiko stood, blinking.

Fuji continued smiling, "I guess so. Let's go inside."

Maileiko's face brightened, "Sure!" she giggled and ran inside, Fuji right behind her.

"You coming, Tezuka?" Fuji turned to his bewildered friend and yet stoic captain, a smile placed on his face.

Tezuka looked to his smiling prodigy friend, "Yeah…" He followed alongside his good friend.

They entered to see Shia and Maileiko looking around in amazement. "This is perfect, Shia…"

"You mean… For _that_?"

Maileiko gave a small nod, "Yes, it is, Shia… _Perfect_…"

Tezuka's eye twitched as the two girls turned to face Fuji, "Our bags are in the car, Paco!" A happy-go-lucky smile on their faces.

"Paco, Paco, Paco, Paco, Paco, Paco, Paco, Paco, Paco, Paco, Paco, Paco, Paco, Paco!!! Paco's got a TACO!!!" Shia screamed and pointed at Fuji. The two girls tackled Fuji to the floor. Taka had walked in just as Shia started pulling on Fuji's hair. (Explanation: Shia has an odd… love?… for the name Paco, so when she hears it, she loses it.)

"Is this even real?! What kind of conditioner do you use?! The ultimate conditioner will be MINE!!!" Shia screamed. (Stolen from this frickin' hilarious Naruto Music Video. Sorry, but I don't remember the name to write a disclaimer.)

"Umm…" Taka started, staring at the scene before him.

"Oh! Hi, Taco-san!" (yes, I meant it to be Taco) Maileiko smiled as she and Shia got off of Fuji.

"Okay, you're free to go, Paco." Shia waved off Fuji as he stood, his usual smile still on his face.

"Fujiko? Tezuka-buchou? Along with Maileiko-san and Shia-san?" Taka looked baffled as he looked between the four. Shia went to sit down at a table –there weren't any customers at Kawamura's Sushi that night (I wonder why?). His face brightened in realization, "Are you on a double date?"

Heads turned to him –if they weren't already looking at him. Tezuka held his stoic expression; Fuji continued to smile –if it had not grown any from Taka's comment. "Yep!" The two girls smiled brightly, "Yep, that's it!"

"Actually," Shia put a hand up, "Maileiko and Fuji are on a date, Nimi-kun here is just my latest slave boy." Shia smiled as she observed the stunned faces of her audience.

"What's…" Taka started, looking confused, "What's a… 'Nimi-kun'?" Shia scowled.

"Are you all stupid?" Shia asked, "It's so obvious! Ku_nimi_tsu!!! Gosh! Retards!" Maileiko slapped her forehead, while Kunimitsu's eye twitched and Taka looked even more confused.

"Stop socializing and serve these people!" Mr. Kawamura snapped at his son.

"Yes, serve me!" Shia yelled, pointing at the ground, "Bow down before me!" Maileiko, moving faster than the eye could follow, quickly poked Shia in the side while karate chopping her neck at the same time. Shia froze for a moment, and then fell to the ground, not moving. **(Shia death count: 2)**

"Don't listen to this fool." Maileiko pointed down to the -what the rest thought to be- dead body. She then pulled out a stick -where from? The world, may never know.- and bent down and began poking Shia with it.

"I believe, that you show me a three year old running around a flea market in his underpants, drinking cococola out of a baby bottle… And I'll show you a future NASCAR fan." Shia murmured, (Disclaimer: That line is from the song 'I Believe' by the Blue Collar boys comedy group.) and began to get up. Maileiko's leg swept out to kick her, but she glared at her before dodging out of the way, standing straight and brushing herself off, her face serious. She gave off an air of elegance as she looked Taka in the eye and did the best curtsy she could in her school uniform, she bowed her head in respect and then straightened again, "I apologize for my former actions." She smiled, looked more like herself, "Now, FOR THE SUSHI!!!"

Maileiko raised a fist to the air, "ALL FOR THE SUSHI!!!!" She stared with a -as much as she could muster from within herself- serious face.

"Y-yes… The sushi. What would you all like?" Taka asked, a shaky expression taking place on his face.

"Wasabi." Maileiko and Fuji said in unison.

"Eel." Shia and Maileiko also said in unison. Maileiko's lower lip showed as her eyes became a mix of perplexity, dejection, detest, awkwardness, and aggravation. Shia smiled in an undefined way, yet it resembled amazement.

"Honestly, I'll try anything _without _wasabi," she said, looking around, "This is really cool. My first time in a Japanese sushi joint."

"I hope we give you a good impression of them," Taka said, then moved behind the counter to prepare their food.


	4. Enter Hyotei

-1Hey everyone! It's Shia this time, again, happy to FINALLY post the third chapter. Sorry it took so long, and thank you to everyone who reads and reviews! Oh, and, about Sakuno... We don't know when she'll come in yet... XP

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shia sat up in bed suddenly, listening intently for signs of movement in the next room over. She heard Maileiko cuss out her bed as she stubbed her toe. Shia smiled and decided to get up.

Maileiko, finished with her job of cursing the bed, moved quickly to her dresser, getting her clothes out. She changed and headed out to make herself some breakfast. Shia could get her own food. She quickly reconsidered, Shia would probably just blow up the kitchen again. With what? She wondered, there was nothing left after yesterday's… incident… The doorbell rang, and she raced to get it.

"Hello," Taka said, Fuji smiling beside him. "We decided to bring you breakfast." Shia dived for the box, which she had concluded held sushi, and rolled out of the way, opening it as she came to rest on one knee, eating the first piece.

"Where did you come from?" Maileiko asked, and Shia shook her head.

"Well, you see, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much they decide to--" Shia suddenly stopped, going pale. Had she actually looked at that piece of sushi? Wasabi. She swallowed hurriedly and twitched on the ground. **(Shia death count: 3)** "Hot hot hot hot hot hot hot!!" She yelled, then got up to get some water. She turned on the tap and stuck her face underneath it, letting the cool water rush into their mouth. After a few moments she stood up.

"I… I did it again…." she murmured, "Why doesn't anyone ever tell me?" She whimpered to herself until the effects wore off. (Shia: Sadly, this has happened to me before. Several time's before.)

"… Anyway," Maileiko said, "Is that all you guys came for? Why don't you come inside?" The boys thanked her for her invitation and stepped inside, all three ignoring Shia.

"We have a tournament today," Fuji informed her.

"We thought we'd ask if the two of you wanted to come," Taka explained, "I-if you're not busy that is!" Maileiko grinned.

"I'd love to go!" she exclaimed and turned to Shia, "You can stay here, Stupid."

"I'll go if I want to," Shia snapped, being notorious for having a short fuse in the mornings. "And I want to!" A knock came at the door, which still stood ajar.

"Excuse me?" a woman asked, looking through the open door.

"Oh, Miss Crazy-lady! How are you today?" Maileiko asked. Shia and Taka had the same bewildered expression.

"You needn't call me such anymore, Ma'am." The woman smiled kindly. "My name is Atobe Kyoko. Anyway, I stopped by to thank you and your boyfriend for stopping me from making a disastrous mistake. I am truly in your debt."

"Oh, it was nothing at all! I just wanted to hit somebody with a bat." She waved it off as Shia cried in the corner. Kyoko stared at Maileiko with a crazed look.

"And also, I wanted to reward you, and your boyfriend." She smiled sweetly.

"Actually, we-" Maileiko was cut off by Kyoko.

"And, come to think of it," She turned to Fuji, "You look rather familiar. And so do you!" She pointed to Taka.

"I'm sure we do." Fuji commented, a smile still on his lips. (Shia: And YOU should all know why!)

"Do I look familiar?!" Shia jumped up, a giant smile playing across her face.

"Umm… Actually, you don't." Kyoko said bluntly. Shia went back to her corner in a fit. Maileiko laughed behind her hand.

"Anyway," Kyoko dug down into her purse, pulling out two large wads of cash, "This is for you. It's really not much, considering that I owe you my life."

"I told you, I just wanted to hit someone with a bat," Maileiko said, pushing Kyoko's hands, and the money in them, away. "I won't except that much money."

"I'll except it for her," Shia said, no humor in her voice. Maileiko whirled on her, glaring, though she suppressed it as much as she could.

"I said I wouldn't except it, and you shouldn't either," Maileiko frowned. Shia returned the look.

"We could use the money," she said, "You seem to be forgetting that we have to pay our own way now. I don't know what went down with your parents, but my dad won't be sending flowers for a while."

"We'll start working part time then," Maileiko said.

"When will we have time!?" Shia snapped, her arms spread wide, "Tennis, school, and track, for me, then there will probably be practices and tournaments on Saturdays. That leaves Sundays and, let's see, about four-thirty to-- when Maileiko? How many hours would you be able to work everyday and still get your school stuff done? I plan to work and pay my half, and I'm sure you do too, but it wouldn't hurt to have some extra money tucked away." (Remember that thing about the 'short fuse in the mornings'.)

"I--" Maileiko started and then shook her head. Shia was right, she hated to admit it. "You're right. I appreciate your hospitality, Kyoko. Thank you very much."

"Really, you don't need to thank me," she smiled, "I'm thanking _you_ remember?" She handed a roll of money to Maileiko and the other to Fuji. He thanked her and made sure no one was watching as he slipped the wad into a nearby desk. Taka, however, noticed, and though he hid it rather well, he couldn't help but smile.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Taka, Fuji, Shia and Maileiko arrived at the tournament grounds. The rest of the Seigaku boys' regulars were waiting for the arrival of their two remaining players.

"Finally! Fuji! Taka! Where have you two been?! Nyah!" Eiji whined with a pout present on his face. "And you brought Maileiko-chan and Shia-chan with you!" He gave a sly smirk. Shia and Maileiko's eyes twitched.

"Enough!" Tezuka commanded. "We must sign in at this point." He said with his usual stoic expression.

The two girls begin to shake their heads back and forth saying, "No fun! No fun!" And it turns into, "Hubba-dubba-duh! Hubba-dubba-dubba-dubba-duh!" The regulars, Ryuzaki, the three seveys (don't ask), the two 'cheerleaders', and all the other tennis team regulars around all stared at the two.

Shia and Maileiko tilted their heads back and began laughing psychotically. Tilted their heads down, still laughing. Then tilted their heads to the side, and finally the other side. As the two came to realization, they noticed that the guys and the others had already moved on to the registration desk. They ran to catch up to the others.

------------------

_'Where's the bathroom!' _Maileiko thought frantically, looking around quickly. She picked a direction and set out. Not sure what else to do, she kept an eye out for signs. Not paying attention to her feet (or anything else), she tripped, running into someone before falling to the ground. She whirled around, "I'm sorry!"

The person she ran into smiled, rubbing the back of his head, "It's alright! I'm sorry, I didn't see you!" Maileiko smiled as he held out his hand to help her up. "My name is Choutarou Ohtori, by the way."

"I'm Maileiko Tachibana," She introduced herself, accepting his hand.

"Where were you headed in such a hurry?" he asked, making Maileiko blush slightly.

"B-bathroom," she said, and he smiled at her again.

"Here, I'll take you there," he offered and she thanked him quietly.


End file.
